This invention relates to methods and apparatus for assembling electrical connectors of the kind having a connector body defining a plurality of openings and a conductive contact mounted in each opening.
Electrical connectors of the kind with which this invention is concerned generally comprise a body of insulating material having one or more rows of spaced openings in which the conductive contacts are mounted so that when the leads of an electrical device such as an integrated circuit are inserted into the openings through the front of the connector body electrical contact is made. Usually the contacts are arranged with one end in the associated opening in the body and the other end projecting out of the body to form a terminal leg suitable for electrical connection such as to a printed circuit board. The contact is suitably of a resilient or springy metal and has its one end shaped so as to spring-press against a said lead inserted into the associated opening through its mouth. The connector body is suitably constructed so that the contacts can be inserted into respective openings through the back thereof and the contacts are clamped in position in the openings by a base member which is attached to the back of the body after insertion of the contacts. An example of connector as above is described in a copending U.S. Patent Application, entitled "Dual In-Line Connector Assembly", invented by Rocco Noschese; Ser. No. 531,885, filed on Sept. 14, 1983, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
For assembling such a connector, it is known in the prior art to serially feed connector bodies to a mounting location, advance a strip of contacts stepwise to the mounting location to register a group of the contacts on the strip with the openings in a body at the mounting location, separate the registered contacts from the strip and insert the separated contacts in respective openings in the body. The contacts are stamped from a strip of metal with one end remaining connected to the strip and are so spaced apart along the strip that when the strip is brought together with a connector body the contacts are aligned with the openings in the body. In other words, the pitch of the contacts on the strip is the same as the pitch of the openings in the connector body so that insertion can be effected simply by moving the group of contacts and the body towards each other. Thus, once the contacts, still connected to the strip, are lined up with the openings in the body, they can be broken off the strip and pushed in a straight line into the openings.
One problem, however, with spacing the contacts with the same pitch as the openings is the amount of scrap material which is created in the strip. The cost penalty can be quite substantial depending upon the material that is used for the contacts. For instance, if the contacts are made out of brass, the scrap value of the waste brass material is only about one-half of the original price of the brass. On the other hand, if the contacts are made out of a material such as beryllium, the scrap value of the waste material may be as little as one-seventh to one-tenth of its original price. This difference is further exacerbated by the fact that a material such as beryllium is seven to eight times as expensive as brass.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for assembling electrical connectors of the kind discussed above in which the amount of waste material is reduced. It also provides a method and apparatus for automatically assembling the connectors in an automated fashion at relatively high rates of speed.